Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Water It Down, See It Happen

Put "waiting for hair dye to do its job" right up there with "taking a shower" as one of the great incubators for creative thinking. Maybe it is the regularity, or the rote-ness, of the tasks that enables the brain to relax and stoke the idea machine. (Come to think of it, many of my best ideas have come to me while doing the dishes.) But, I think it is in the water.

Author Henriette Klauser, whose book "Write It Down, Make It Happen" truly changed my life, contends that "the connection between water and creativity can be documented back at least as far as the third century B.C." She also credits the elements of no distractions and rhythmic repetition aiding creativity, but being near water is the ballast, the anchor, if you will.

I'm a believer.

And I'm not just saying that so I can stop feeling guilty about sitting in a salon chair for 35 minutes while I wait for the hair dye to do its job. I still feel a twinge of indulgence, but I remember how much writing I accomplish while all that running water -- shampooing, rinsing, -- surrounds me.

And that's why I always bring my laptop or pen and paper with me every time I get my hair dyed.